War of the Walking Dead
by pedrointas
Summary: Some of the world's best medical experts are forced together to investigate the strange outbreak occurring around the world. No one know's what's going on. Least of all, the best minds in their fields.
1. Chapter 1 The Boat

**War of the walking dead**

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Boat**

To John Griffiths, the anxiety was just a normal part of his terrifying start to the day. The cold sweats, the fear of being out of control, he was as used to them as the early sun streaming in through the barred window. He concentrated on slow breathing, trying to gain control over the irrational fear that gripped his mind, willing himself to relax. He knew the fears were irrational, baseless and but also real, and he still fought them tooth and nail every morning.

He swung his legs out of bed and sat up on the edge cradling his head in his hands, his long dark hair hanging loosely down over his hands as he fought to build up momentum for the day ahead. He hated this place, this fucking cell, the stainless toilet, the washbasin and his laptop sitting open on the tiny desk. Morning emails waiting, questioning, pleading for answers that just weren't available.

John exhaled long and slow, then looked around as he always did first thing in the morning, the white painted steel walls contrasted his own heart of darkness as he fought to overcome his depression and anxiety. It was a normal part of him, and while his present circumstances enhanced the issue, they weren't the root cause. Like everything that revolved around his life, the cause was biochemical, or in his case, a lack thereof. His system reabsorbed serotonin too quickly. Things would be easier if his meds weren't so hard to come by, but that was just another sign of the times as things became harder and harder to find.

As he did each morning, he centred his gaze on the one thing that always brought him back to reality. The slight dimpling with the faint, rust stain traces of blood where the blast of a shotgun had ended the life of the former inmate.

Testament to the current situation, it didn't matter which cell you were in, and there was a hundred on this ship, there was always one of these. The previous occupants, like so many more around the world, deemed expendable and of little significance to the panicked, powers that be.

All had been executed, without remorse, because the prison barge they occupied was needed elsewhere by others, and in times of strife, the most secure places are also the safest, and consequently, the most expensive real-estate on the planet.

The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Centre had commenced its life as a prison facility on Long Island Sound in New York, been a juvenile correction facility and was then sold to Georgia to cope with an exploding prison population. Now moored next to Kings Bay Submarine Base, it was deemed necessary for national security and taken over for the Navy, its fourteen dormitories for Naval personnel and 100 cells for those who must be kept safe at all costs.

John was one of those. With a doctorate in neuroscience and molecular biology, he'd been one of a hundred specialists gathered together to work out what, if anything, could be done about the crisis. Groups of specialists had been gathered all over the world, some in places like this, some in normal facilities fortified for defence, and not one had the slightest clue as to what was going on.

John stood and, like every other male of his species, his first and most pressing task was to empty his bladder, before washing his hands and walking to his locker. He dressed quickly before walking up to the cell door and banging three times. He stood patiently as he heard the footfall of boots approaching, John quietly yawning as he approached the coming day with his typical dearth of enthusiasm. The answers just weren't there.

The observation port opened and John stared straight into the eyes of Petty Officer 2nd Class Bill Collis. Immediately behind, and with a shotgun aimed firmly at the observation port, Seaman Myers looked both slightly frightened and determined to pull the trigger if the need had arisen. "Can't blame him" thought Griffiths. "Paranoia is a survival trait nowadays".

Collis broke into an easy smile. "Mornin' Doc" And at the same moment Myers took his finger off the trigger guard and, with a relieved look, aimed the shotgun at the deck above.

"Hey Bill, Steve, what's up?" John asked with relief.

"Twenty-two confirmed ok. Open Twenty-Two" Collis shouted down the hallway. "Open Twenty-Two, aye, aye" came the faint reply.

The cell door slid back on its rollers while at the same time Collis closed and locked the observation port. "Nothin' Doc, just the usual paranoia" he said as he turned to walk down the passageway. "The balls to four ended up with a turner, Doc Samuels thinks it was a heart attack. One of the ensign's, good man too!"

John stepped out of the cell and followed Collis "Sorry to hear it Chief. I hope they secured tissue samples, I'm not going to get anywhere with the rotten samples I keep getting". Myers was picking up the rear, shotgun still pointed at the deck above.

Collis spun around with a look of irritation in his eyes. "Look Doc. None of us are happy with what's happening. Taylor was a good officer, and Samuels and Jenk both want to cut him open and do an autopsy while his body is still writhing on the slab. Not only that ain't right, but most of all, we all look on this as though we're all just as expendable and could end up the same way".

John looked at Collis with all of the compassion he could muster "Look Chief, I'm sorry about Taylor, really I am. But, we've yet to gain an understanding of what's happening with people. We just know they come back with minimal brain function. Samuels and Jenk should've kept this quiet, at least to spare unrest. The autopsy would've happened anyway but I would have preferred they explain why they want to do what they want to do. Ok!"

The ire flushed in Collis' eyes and he poked John in his chest with an index finger "I thought you might be a little more sympathetic Doc?

"I'm not without feelings on this matter Bill, but we're hitting a brick wall with what we've gotten so far. Whole cities are dying, we don't know why, and someone like Taylor may be invaluable to the research. If it helps, we know that he's gone, there's no brain activity, it's just all autonomic response that keeps them going after they come back. And although it's not palatable, what we learn may give us important answers. Can you let that get out to the other Navy personnel?".

Collis finally eased up, and sighed "Sure Doc, but can you ask them to at least give us the respect to explain why their actions are important" John nodded "Will do" as he stopped at the barred gate at the end of the passageway.

Collis nodded to the two personnel standing behind the security glass "Open gate fourteen" at which one replied "Open gate fourteen, aye Chief" and pressed a button on the security console. With an electrical buzz the gate opened and John walked through.

John turned to Chief Collis "Did you hear where they were taking him?"

"Sure Doc, they took him to the autopsy room on level 3. You know he has a wife and kid. Had a wife and kid, I mean. They were in Washington but it's gone dark, along with Boston, Baltimore, Philly, you name it, they're torching it".

"Washington?"

"Yeah the shit's really hitting the fan. Atlanta's just been bombed by the Air Force. Hell, I even hear every city on the west coast has been burnt. Trying to slow down the hoards I guess but it's just getting worse. By the way, Admiral Hancock is coming over for an update in a few hours"

"Fuck! Just what I need. I ain't got anything new. I don't think anyone has" John shook his head as he turned to walk down the passageway to the next security gate. "Can you call up and let Samuels and Jenk know that I'm on my way, and not to start without me. Also call Alex Leyland, I may need her help to get them on board".

"Sure Doc, will do. I'll catch you later". Smiled Collis as he reached for the security phone mounted on the wall.

John strode down the passageway and passed through each security checkpoint as quickly as possible, barely even making small talk with the naval personnel standing security at this time of the morning.

Level three had once been prisoner recreation facilities which, because of the amount of open space, had been converted into labs, medical and support facilities to try and understand the plague spreading worldwide. It wasn't the only one. The CDC in Atlanta, USAMRIID in Maryland. In fact, nearly every hospital and university lab in the country, if not the world, along with each organisation specialised in infectious disease, had been collaborating to research the plague.

To call it a wildfire event was apt as it seemed to have spread everywhere overnight. Even outpacing the worldwide transport system in defiance to every contagion ever known. No subject zero, no pattern of spread, just a sudden change in the process of death everywhere. The epidemiologists were left scratching their collective heads. It had become a conflagration in major population centres, spot fires in smaller, completely unconnected places. Was it a biological, microbial, viral, or an environmental problem? No one seemed to be able to nail down the cause. John was one of those.

He finally reached his desk, tucked away on one of the old basketball courts. The place crowded with PC's and ethernet cables, servers and wireless routers. The court, even with its high roof smelled of desperation and frustration. What had once smelled of the sweat of incarceration, now contained the aromas of stale coffee, day old sandwiches and the body odour of long days and nights.

John sat down at his desk and quickly checked his overnight news feeds. The number of labs no longer responding to queries had grown exponentially in days. First a few, then hundreds, and now thousands. The CDC had gone quiet. USAMRIID, gone. European CDC and its parent country agencies except Porton Down in the UK, all black. Porton Down was in a critical state, but they relayed some information that the French had been on to prior to going dark.

John sighed and flagged the French information for follow-up investigation. They were convinced of some sort of meningitis connection to Fungi, but the information they held contained no real proof. It was too early for that, only speculation, something about an _rpoC_ gene protein called _LGA251_ which told him it was an RNA Polymerase coding protein but nothing else. Certainly, nothing concrete for him to work on, but still?

John forwarded the information to the CDC, and seriously doubted he'd get a response. Many of the normal networks had already gone dark and email was sketchy across the eastern seaboard at best. He hoped Candace Jenner was there and still online, the CDC might be dark but might still receive, and Candace was one of the best when it came to protein polymerase reactions in human cells.

Just at that moment John's internal phone rang. He picked it up "Griffiths" he said sharply.

"Hi John, it's Jenk, and I have Ben Samuels here as well. What the hell is with the hurry up and wait?"

"Sorry Carl, trying to get there as quick as possible. Something came in from the French through Porton Down. I'm not sure it's anything but, you know, every avenue. Has Alex called you yet?"

"Why do you think we're on the line?" Said Jenk with a little irritation in his voice. "She ordered us not to start until you get here. You do realise this is the freshest sample we'll get."

"Yeah! I realise that, but if I'm going to get anywhere, I need to be one hundred percent sure of where the samples are coming from and, need them as fresh as possible. I'll be right in."

"Ok John! Just move your ass, we aren't waiting all day" The line clicked off.

John tried to muster some enthusiasm as he hung up the phone, stood up, and headed for the autopsy lab down the passageway.


	2. Chapter 2 Chop Shop

**Chapter 2**

 **Chop Shop**

The autopsy containment lab had once been a large recreation yard for the prisoners on the boat. Steel floors, walls and roof had been modified with internal bulkheads, positive pressure systems, high grade air ventilation systems and scrubbers to prevent the escape of any pathogens. Everything needed for the facilities to host the most modern systems for dealing with the deadliest thing known to humanity.

Carl Jenk stood silently in his protection suit, they were always uncomfortably hot, confining and noisy. His air hose lead up to a guide rail above. They were designed to do one thing and one thing only. Do the utmost to protect the occupant from the most feared contagion's known to humanity.

Short, black and balding, Dr Carl Jenk PHD. MD and Pathologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital, wasn't known for his patience with others, especially colleagues who kept him waiting. He regarded his time as the most precious commodity in the world. And right now, when he should have been cutting into the subject at hand, he was stuck waiting for that asshole Griffiths, who hadn't performed an autopsy since med school.

He looked at the cadaver, or what should have been one. Taylor lay strapped to the autopsy table. Not an ordinary autopsy slab. This one had once been an execution table for lethal injections. They'd asked for something suitable to dissect the newly animated and this is what the Navy produced. Taken from the death row of one of the local Georgia prisons. It had already been overrun by the dead and securing it had cost the lives of three men. They were, in fact, the first three autopsies performed on this table.

Unlike the usual execution tables, this one had extra reinforcing. Nowadays the dead fought back so Taylor was pinned with strong straps, polymer reinforced with Kevlar mesh to ensure that they couldn't be bitten through. Both ankles, knees, thighs, waist, abdomen, upper chest, neck, head across the eyes, wrists, elbows, and upper arms were strapped down. Most important of all, he had a ball gag stuffed in his mouth with the strap tightened to its maximum tension.

Taylor had no concept of what was happening to him. In fact, Taylor had no concept of who Taylor was. He only knew that he had no movement whatsoever. He could follow sounds, listen in to the noise drawing his attention around him, and try to attack whatever it was. The man whose life had ended with a myocardial infarction due to the stress of knowing his wife and child were trapped in a dead city, now lay growling through the gag and writhing in an attempt to escape the bonds that held him. It was no use, they were too tight.

Jenk looked up from Taylor to Samuels standing there in his own protection suit. He squeezed the airflow to quieten the suit down enough to that he could talk into the mike clearly. "That fucker had better hurry up, I'm not waiting around all day!"

Ben Samuels raised his eyes from the subject, still not used to the process of cutting open a 'not quite living body' and did the same. The airflow in protective suits often interfered with hearing and speaking. "Relax Carl, besides, having the input of someone like Griffiths, might actually provide some serious clues for follow-up."

Jenk stared at Samuels with a look of disdain. "He's still an asshole who shouldn't be interfering with our work." Jenk looked at the assistants arranging sterile tools on the trays next to both himself and Ben. "Fucker thinks he knows better than us and seriously, what's he think he's gonna' learn when we could provide the same samples?"

Ben sighed "Dunno', either way we wait. Shit! I could use another cup of coffee right about now."

Just at that moment they heard the outer airlock door open and close and through the plexiglass they could see Griffiths in his protection suit. The inner airlock opened with a hiss and John strode into the room.

Like all Bio- Level 4 labs, the air pressure in this room had been reduced slightly to prevent the loss of containment. Any breach would only result in air rushing into the room, not out and air was extracted from the room through a complex filtration and decontamination setup. USAMRIID and the CDC used to be the only places with facilities like this but now, they had been set up everywhere. At least everywhere the best minds to deal with the crisis could be safe harboured.

Jenk gave John an icy stare "About damn time. You might have time to fart about on your computer, we don't."

John gave him an exasperated sigh, "Look Carl. We're all here trying to do the same thing ok. And times are tough, but it doesn't mean you get to be an asshole every day of your fucking life. Jerkoff!"

Ben Samuels broke into a slight smirk behind the face plate of his protection suit but said nothing. He turned his eyes to the two assistants who had just finished laying out the tools. Their faces showed the same bemusement as Samuels. Not many people had the front to call Jenk out on his behaviour but John was one and his boss could be a real prick when his impatience got the better of him. Which was usually all day, every day.

As a pathologist though, Carl Jenk was second to none, which was why he was here on the ship as one of the hundred. Behind his back however, everyone, including Ben Samuels, referred to him as "Jenk the jerkoff", or just plain jerkoff.

"Fuck you John!" Growled Jenk in a rising fury. "Some people including Leyland might think the sun shine's out your ass, but I'm escalating this interference to the admiral."

John just shook his head, his eyes focused on the moaning form of Taylor strapped cruciform to the lethal injection table. "Whatever! I have it on good authority that the admiral thinks you're an overrated pissant too. Shall we get started or do you want to piss into the wind some more?"

Carl Jenk looked fit to explode inside his protection suit but said nothing. He merely turned and walked out the airlock, pausing only for decontamination before stripping from his BL4 suit and leaving the lab. The assistant's, their tasks finished for the moment, simply followed with the same bemused look on their faces. Jenk usually treated them with disdain, so they were all too happy to see him embarrassed.

"Well. I guess that one's going to come back to haunt me. Sorry Ben, I just wasn't up to dealing with his bullshit today. Shall we get started?"

Smiling, Ben merely shrugged "Sure John. But just remember, he might be a giant pain in the ass, but he really knows his shit. And in the two years I've been with him, I've learnt more than the other 5 years I've been a pathologist. Anyway, where did you want to start?"

John merely looked at Taylor, struggling against the restraints. "I want to start with a clean sample of the Cerebro-Spinal fluid. I have a hunch regarding the encephalopathy we keep seeing."

"I know we see that, but shit, that could be related to normal necrosis. We don't see it much in fresh cases, only the older ones. But then again, there's nothing that really makes sense with these cases anyway." Ben walked up and looked at Taylor laying on the table.

"I know that, I'm just worried we're missing something important here. Besides, the French were onto something. Not about the necrosis, more about the environmental cause that might explain things." John was worried. "We know that people change, even those not bitten. You get bit, you get a fever and die, then come back. You don't get bit, but die, you still come back. That tells me most people seem to have been exposed to it and either the immune system is stopping it, or it's dormant until death."

Ben looked at John, "So how do we get the cerebral sample? You do realise he's strapped to a lethal injection table? There's no way to access the spinal area without releasing him from the restraints? I ain't going to be doin' that… No way!" Ben shook his head.

"Yeah I get that. Neither am I" John reached down onto the sterile tools lying in wait, and picked up a powered saw. "I know it's a bit gruesome but we need to remove the appendages first, then we can play with the torso all we like."

Ben looked almost shocked as he stared at Griffiths' with the powered saw in his hand. "You can't be serious?"

"We need that sample. Then I can…"

At that moment, the shrill tone of Alexandra Leyland's voice cut through the intercom. "WHAT THE FUCK JOHN? I've just had Jenk storm into my office screaming about you interfering with his work and calling him a jerkoff to his face. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

John rolled his eyes at Ben and moved towards the intercom and pressed the button. "I know, I'm sorry! I just wasn't in the mood for his bullshit this morning. Not today anyway and I needed to check on something really important this morning!"

He looked at Alex and admired her petite frame. Despite the strength of her personality, she carried herself with the poise, dignity and grace reminiscent of a ballerina. Her beauty also masked an exceptional brain. She was especially good at the management of disparate teams of talented individuals who almost never worked well together and often found the right combination of motivation and anger to get them to succeed.

Alex looked at John through the protective Perspex and softened her attitude. Despite her anger, she had a respect for John which surmounted her ire. Something she'd held since they were at Johns Hopkins studying for their doctorates, when his brilliance with protein chains and their complex folding had become apparent. "Alright John, fill me in. What is it that forces you to fuck with that asshole Jenk and why shouldn't I be concerned?"

John sighed, "The French sent a message through Porton Down. Everyone seems to think it's some form of meningitis, but they thought it related to a protein coding _rpoC_ gene they designated LGA251."

"That's pretty fucking thin John. Have you had any follow-up contact?"

"Just the one contact this morning. I tried to IM them but they've gone dark. I was going to send a request through Porton Down as soon as I got the samples I need on ice."

Alex suddenly looked weary as she rubbed her forehead, then looked up and activated the intercom "John, we just got word 20 minutes ago, Porton Down is now dark. We're now only getting sporadic feeds from the occasional UK army unit, but the last word was they were evac'ing to HMS Ocean and had lost pretty much everything."

John stared silently at Alex through the window for a moment before reaching up and pressing the intercom "We're losing. Aren't we Alex? The war against this. We're in a cascade failure and pretty soon even here's going to crash. Humanity's going to end up as isolated little feudal kingdoms fighting over the scraps and surrounded by the dead."

"We're still fighting it John, we have a chance. Don't give up on me ok! The base is still secure, and we're sitting on a giant barge in the middle of the bay. Even if the base were to go down, we're pretty safe here. And while we're here, and still doing our job, there's still hope."

John slowly reached for the intercom "Yeah! Ok! Well I'd better get back to this. I'm going to have to do a couple of unconventional things, so it's probably better if Jenk isn't here. He wouldn't approve as it won't be normal pathology procedure."

"Like what John?" Alex's look of concern grew in intensity as she looked from John to the prone form of Taylor struggling against his restraints.

"I want to do a spinal tap and to do that, I'm going to have to remove the appendages."

"Why?" Alex's look of concern turned into one of horror.

"I need some clean samples in order to run some assays. My hunch is that it's not meningitis. Or even viral."

"Ok John, do what you have to. I'm sceptical, but we can't leave any stone unturned. Just don't let the Navy people know that you took him apart piece by piece. I somehow think they just won't understand. And take care, ok!" Alex smiled then turned away, shaking her head as she walked down the passageway.

John walked back to where the table held Taylor and shrugged at Ben Samuels. "Ok, well I think we should get this started. I'll do the cutting if you can stack the parts in the cooler drawer."

Ben just shook his head at the thought. "Ok John, I'll play along. Do you really think it's not viral?"

"Yeah, well I won't really know anything until I do some assay's first, but there are certain aspects which don't fit. Its transmissibility. It doesn't seem viral. One bite and you get sick, die and turn. But there's also the fact that you can simply die and turn. So maybe there's an environmental factor as well. Or even a combination of factors."

John picked up the powered saw and turned it on. Its high-pitched whine drowned out all other noise in the room while John lowered the blade and began cutting through the flesh of Taylors upper arm. Taylor growled through the gag and struggled even harder against the restraints while blood and tissue started to splatter everywhere.

An hour and a half later, John had most of the samples he needed. The arms and legs would provide plenty of muscle tissue for analysis. Taylor had continued to groan but couldn't fight the restraints as they'd taken a clean sample of the cerebral-spinal fluid. He growled as they cut open his chest cavity and one by one removed the stomach, liver, spleen, pancreas and kidneys as well as samples of the large and small intestines.

Both John and Ben were amazed that, despite the removal of nearly all of Taylor's blood and major organs, Taylor was still twisting his neck to fight the restraints and growling at each new violation. The growling stopped when they removed the lungs, Taylor no longer able to force even the tiniest amount of air past his larynx to cause a growl.

Strangest of all was the heart. There were clear signs of damage regarding the cause of death, but too much of the tissue was also necrotic.

"Can you believe this Ben? No blood flow, very little oxygen entering the lungs until we removed them. The digestive processes all seem mostly inert. All organs non-functional and yet there's still enough neurotransmitter activity to move, as well as the cells themselves continuing to process for movement. I wonder how the cells are cycling the ATP?"

Ben looked down at one of the arms laying on the gurney, "Yeah! I see what you mean. We could spend fifty years studying these and still not get to the bottom of everything. Even the red muscle tissue, it's like the calcium and sodium ion channels are still acting normally to activate muscle contraction and release."

"Changing the electrical potential?"

"Yeah I did my Masters on the SCN4a Sodium ion channel mutations on para-myotonic and dystrophic muscle groups and particularly the M1370V mutation when it came to the changes in electrical potential in the cell."

John was impressed. "So even if the tissue is abnormal, you're saying that much of the non-autonomous muscle mass is still being affected by the normal chemical interchanges? How would that even work and where would you begin?"

Ben smiled at the underestimation he had of John. "Bear with me for a moment." He said as he walked over to a bench to grab some equipment.

John instantly knew what Ben was up to. "You plan to use microneurography? That won't work on severed limbs."

"I realise that John. I'm more interested in testing for sympathetic nerve outflow." He placed the pre-amplifier down on the gurney next to one of the arms. He inserted both microelectrodes into the arm and turned on the device. They were both interested to hear the high frequency response as electrical activity was converted to sound.

"That's a hell of a lot of residual sympathetic nerve activity Ben." John was seriously impressed with Ben and right now wished that the guy had chosen another field apart from pathology.

"Yeah! We used to see this with the para-myotonic patients. Normal people would barely register unless they tense the muscle. The patients would send the needle off the charts as their nervous system tried to signal for the muscle release."

"The electrical potential issue?"

"Exactly, I mean, Muscle tissue still needs a feed of chemical's such as sodium ions to increase, and calcium ions to negate, the change in electrical potential needed for the tissue to contract then release. That's how everyone's muscle tissue works, even if the tissue is like the heart and autonomous. In the myotonic and dystrophic patients, the ion channel that flooded the cell with Sodium ions was slightly mutated so that the cells, even when trying to relax, were still being overloaded with sodium."

"But the heart of Taylor was dead, and his circulatory system is no longer pumping blood around the body so how are the necessary chemicals reaching the cells in sufficient quantities for normal function to occur? How do you think that the chemicals necessary for movement are being transported to the major muscle groups? And what of the neurology?" John himself was trying to understand the changes in biology.

"I'm not sure John, to understand it we'll have to re-map the whole process and that could take years of investigation. What about the endocrine system? What about neurotransmission?"

John shook his head "That's another thing I'm trying to figure out. Neurotransmitter chemicals are released, change the nerve cells potential to trigger signalling and are then re-absorbed into the synaptic cleft for re-release."

He looked down into Taylor's empty chest cavity, frowned, and made another unorthodox decision. "I want to try and remove the spinal column, brain stem, brain and eyes without damaging them. So, we need to remove the head and spine from the torso first."

Ben smirked and then looked at John "By chance, your colleagues back at Hopkins didn't call you Doctor Frankenstein, did they?"

John let out a slight laugh "They would now. Ok we need to turn the torso over and get to work."

Together the managed to flip Taylor over onto what had been his chest, cut away the dermis above his spine and then commence cutting the vertebrae away from the rib-cage. In twenty minutes of messy work, they managed to sever the head and spine from the remainder of the body. Not a neat job, but the removal of the vertebrae from the spinal nerve, as well as the other parts from the skull, would be a painstaking matter best left for later.

Ben rolled up another gurney with a body bag and they placed Taylor's superfluous parts, the headless torso as well as the legs and arms minus the tissue samples, into the body bag. Lastly, they surgically removed the jaw and some of the neck away from the head and placed those in the body bag before sealing it. It was now practice to burn corpses in an industrial furnace so they rolled the gurney with the body bag away from the dissecting table.

Ben looked down at Taylor's head, as they carefully placed it into a cooler box for transport to a John's own BL4 lab.

"Oh! that's just creepy. They eyes are still moving. Ok! I don't need another coffee, I need a drink."

John laughed as he sealed the last sample crate. They were already sitting on a trolley ready for decontamination and transport. "Come on! We'll let the assistants clean up and transport the samples. I'm starved, I'll buy you breakfast."

"You can still eat?"

They started walking towards the decontamination airlock. Inside it took a good 15 minutes of wash-down before the last traces of Taylor's blood and tissue were gone from their biohazard suits and they could step into the change area. They stripped out of their suits, re-sealed them and proceeded to inflate them to ensure that there were no punctures.

The two assistants, both Army Corporals from USAMRIID were waiting for them in the outer lab. John proceeded to instruct them on which BL4 labs were to receive which samples and thanked them for doing the messy task of cleaning the lab. Both of them commenced checking their own BL4 suits for integrity before the messy job ahead.

To reach the mess hall, John and Ben had to do the one thing that was always pleasant on the boat in good weather. They had to take one of the external walkways up four decks. The hours everyone was working meant that spending a lot of time outside was a rarity, and Kings bay sure could be one pretty area when it was sunny like this. Mused John.

Just then his reverie was broken by the roar of twin turbofan engines as an A10 Warthog swooped down towards one of the roads in the Naval base. They both rushed up the stairs and reached the top deck just as a long puff of grey smoke emanated from the front of the A10. A few seconds later came continuous ripping noise of its 30mm minigun as it sprayed rounds down onto the roadway. There was a crackling sound as each of the rounds exploded.

The A10 pulled out of its dive as another dove in behind it. John and Ben quickly walked up the platform to where Bill Collis was leaning over the railing, watching the show with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

"What gives Bill?" Said John just as the noise of the second A10's gun crossed the distance to them.

"Hey Docs. A hoard of the dead was just herded into a killing zone for the A10's to take out…There's also a rumour going around that you called Dr. Jenk a jerkoff to his face. I would've loved to see that if it were true." Bill smiled at John.

"Nah! Now Chief, you've been around long enough to know you shouldn't believe any rumour. I've got respect for Carl, he's one of the best at what he does." Replied John quietly. Just then another A10 made another pass. Another ripping noise, another crackle of exploding ordinance.

"Sure Doc, sure..." Smiled Bill knowingly.

John looked at his watch, almost 11am. "Well it's breakfast time for us. Do you know when Hancock's due?"

"Yeah Doc. He's due to fly in at thirteen hundred. Someone'll come and get you from your lab."

John and Ben walked toward the mess door and their long-awaited breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3 - All of the President's men

**Chapter 3**

 **All the President's Men – flashback 25 days earlier**

For John Griffiths, his last day at Johns Hopkins began just like the previous twelve days of the crisis. He woke up on the settee of his office feeling as though he'd been on an all-night bender. Commuting was impossible so like most of the staff still working at Hopkins, they made do with whatever was available. Hundreds of non-essential staff had already ceased turning up to work, some because of the plague, some because they wanted to be with their families.

John was lucky, he had his own cramped office in the Solomon Snyder neuroscience building, so it was easy for him to crash on the settee. His three graduate students had settled for the floor last night, rather than the long walk back through the nearly empty hospital. They had started the crisis pulling 18 hour shifts then, as the number of people turning up to the emergency department had dwindled, they had spent part of their days working in the labs.

John groaned as he swung his legs over and sat up. He momentarily buried his head in his hands and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He stood up and walked to his desk, pulled open the top right draw and grabbed his tablets. He took two and washed it down with a swig from his water bottle. The water was tepid, but at least it was clean.

A burst of gunfire in the street reminded John of what was going on and he walked over to the windows and flicked open the blinds. An assault of light overloaded his eyes for a moment and a moan came from one of his grad students.

"C'mon guys. Time to wake up and get to work."

Mahmood Hassan looked at his watch "Jesus! John, It's 6.30am. I only got to sleep four hours ago." he moaned in his thick accent.

'Yeah well! Just another day in paradise. Al, Vince. C'mon. get up" John looked down into the street below. The National Guard blockade was busy trying to clean Wolfe street of the inevitable early morning hoard. Walking in a line with bayonets fixed and stabbing each in the head as they came to them. Someone must have panicked to have fired the shots, as it would only serve to attract more of the dead.

John, Hassan, Albert Cheng and Vincent Green all walked out of John's office into the main corridor. Most of the labs and offices were now empty but John and his team had spent the previous two weeks assisting the Emergency Department in the Critical Care Tower. They took the elevator down to level three where the skybridge crossed over Wolfe street into endocrinology.

Two armed National Guardsmen were patrolling the corridor and began to walk towards them cautiously.

"Morning guy's, Long night?" John found the best way to defuse any tension was to talk immediately. The dead didn't talk, so it was the fastest way to ensure that no one took a bullet by mistake.

"Hey Docs. Don't you know it! At least we still have power." One of the guardsmen remarked.

'And at least you guys are keeping the corridors clear, we'll catch you later." John said as they all reached a laundry room and grabbed a fresh scrubs top. John led all four to the next air-bridge which crossed over into the main complex. John swiped his security card and the doors opened. "I wonder what wonderful delights wait for us today?"

Hassan and Cheng merely grunted while Vince was still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Finally, after several minutes walking through empty corridors, they reached the critical care tower where the main and paediatric emergency departments were located.

They reached level 2 to find everyone's attention glued to the big screen TV in the nurses station, while the normal patient noise was remarkably absent. John and the others walked up to join a group of medical staff watching the broadcast.

 _"...Just reiterating. The CDC reports that the WHO has announced that as of 02:00 local time, every single country in the world is now reporting cases of the contagion. The last, having been North Korea, which had previously denied having any cases. Now it has been confirmed through Beijing, that North Korea has requested desperate help to fight the infection."_

 _"It's now 6.46am eastern, and we will continue to bring you twenty-four-hour news coverage of the pandemic crisis. I'd just like to remind our viewers that the White House is expected to make an announcement at 7.00am this morning on what it has described as a grave national security matter. We will be back after this short emergency announcement."_

 _"The Governor and state of Maryland, the CDC and the Baltimore Police would like to remind all citizens that a state of emergency has been declared for all counties in the state of Maryland. All pre-schools, junior, middle and high-schools, colleges and universities, shopping centers, restaurants, entertainment and alcohol venues are to remained closed until further notice. The banking sector has been ordered to have a moratorium on all debt collection and payment. Businesses are to remain closed unless they have been deemed to be essential to the continuation of government and emergency services."_

 _"Shopping in supermarkets and food outlets will be limited to ten minutes per person, with a limit of ten people at once allowed in store. Shopping will be restricted to residents of the state of Maryland only and proof of residence is required. Those whose residential address ends in an odd number can shop on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's only. Resident's whose address ends in an even number will be restricted to Tuesday's, Thursday's and Saturday's only. Sunday's and overnight will be limited to supermarket staff for re-stocking purposes only. The governor and police have authorised the National Guard to shoot looters on site and civil disobedience will not be tolerated."_

 _"People are advised to stay at home and conserve food, water, fuel and energy. Public transport has been restricted to the use of emergency and essential services personnel only. A valid ID is required to be carried and displayed at all times and produced on demand. Your cooperation with these emergency measures is important to protect the future of the great state of Maryland."_

 _"We're back and it's ten minutes to the hour. You are reminded that we are expected to go live to an emergency broadcast from the White House at 7.00am Eastern."_

 _"We will take you there shortly, but first, we have a reminder from the police commissioner that anyone displaying aggressive behaviour, covered in blood, failing to respond when challenged, or injuries consistent with having been attacked, will be treated as though infected and may be subject to summary termination should they fail to act as directed."_

 _"Residents attempting to flee the city are advised that much of the countryside is also affected by the pandemic and that it may be safer to stay at home. All other major cities and states are also affected and residents are advised to take precautions and avoid making noise. We are... Ok, this just coming in. From our European correspondent Michael Jennings, in London. Michael, can you hear me and good morning."_

 _"Yes Tom, I can hear you and good morning, well it's afternoon here in London and we've just been informed the European Union, along with the United Kingdom where I am, have unilaterally declared the current international pandemic as an unprecedented state of emergency and martial law is to be enacted by 2pm UDT. That's our time in London and about three hours from now."_

 _"Michael, can you tell us what the mood is over there at the moment."_

 _"Yes Tom. Naturally people are frightened. Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by this pandemic. I imagine it's much the same over there at home, however, due to the higher population density of most European cities, the pandemic has spread much more rapidly, with an estimate that nearly twenty percent of the European population having been affected by the plague already. The declaration of full martial law, while late in being declared, effectively means that freedoms enjoyed here since the time of the Magna Carta, have all effectively been quashed. It's also thought that the European Union, having survived all these decades, will effectively collapse._

 _"There are also serious questions as to whether NATO, and its constituent armies, has the capacity to."_

 _"I'm sorry Michael, I'm going to have to cut you off there. We hope to get back to you, but right now the President is about to address the nation. We now cross to the White House briefing room for the President's address to the nation."_

John watched intently with all the other medical personnel as the President strode up to the podium and dropped his prepared speech onto the lectern. Both the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs took up positions slightly behind the President.

 _"My fellow Americans. I am speaking to you this morning on the matter of the greatest threat to National Security America has ever faced. Our great nation stands at a crossroad, where, if we fail to act with the most diligent application of courage, our country, as that of many others around the world, may cease to exist."_

 _"In 1918, just as people were coming back from World War 1, the Spanish flu struck, with a vengeance that only someone alive in those days could understand. Millions died, and many more suffered. But the threat they faced then was nothing compared to today. Indeed, we are faced with the worst possible threat we could ever imagine."_

 _"We now face a threat that encompasses every American, regardless of race, gender, age or religious belief. And nothing we have faced together, not the years of terrorism, nor the conflicts we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, could have prepared us for the test of strength and courage we have all shown in the last two hundred days, and especially, in the last twenty."_

 _"Most of you will, by now, have lost someone close to the pandemic which has been sweeping the world, and our great nation. Many have called it an act of God, others blame our own hubris for the problem. As though the affliction we now face, was something we forced upon ourselves. I believe neither is true. However, at the same time, we cannot just hope that the problem will go away. Far too many of our citizens have succumbed to this terrible plague."_

 _"Already the statistics have shown the terrible toll we have faced for the loss of so many of our loved ones. Whether you realise it or not, our first responders, our police, fire and ambulance personnel have been at the frontline from the beginning, and it is they who have suffered the most."_

 _"Fully 38 percent of our emergency personnel have been killed or infected in the last month alone, and every day more fall. Some 26 percent of our emergency medical personnel, doctors, nurses, orderlies and even hospital administrative staff have given their lives to fight this pandemic, and yet they continue to turn up to perform their roles on a daily basis."_

 _"To date, some 18 percent of our Army, Navy, Marines and Airforce personnel, as well as our National Guard personnel have fallen, while their compatriots have continued to stand strong and they are still willing to defend you, fight for you and yes, die for you."_

 _"Lastly, even among our general population, millions have died. Already some 10 percent or 31 million of our population have succumbed to the pandemic and many more are in imminent danger. Many more will die, in nothing short of horrible circumstances, before this pandemic can be controlled."_

 _"Accordingly, and on the advice of the Attorney General, the Joint Chiefs and the National Security Council, your government has decided that immediate action must be taken. I have spoken to the Governors, to your Senators and Congressional Representatives, of all states in this great nation and we have decided unilaterally to implement extreme security measures, and, though it saddens my heart, to temporarily suspend the Constitution of these United States. I swore an oath to defend this at all costs, but if it must be suspended for the time being due to the situation, then it's the right thing to do. Our constitution will rise again, as will our people. Keep the faith you have in our way of life, protect it, enforce it and bring it back to serve this great nation once again."_

 _"As a result of this;"_

 _"Commencing today, all people showing any sign of infection related to the pandemic, are subject to immediate termination. We do this out of kindness and not out of fear with the knowledge that no one has ever been cured of this affliction. The greatest medical minds of our world are working non-stop to find answers, and more are being recruited daily and assembled in specially protected facilities whose sole purpose it to work collectively for a cure. However, the spread of this pandemic can only be stopped at the source, and while we mourn the loss of loved ones and life, and grieve for them continually, the threat to our way of life cannot be under-estimated."_

 _"Secondly. The federal government, as well as all state governments, in co-operation with the military, are declaring an immediate implementation of full martial law. Looters, the infected, and those who wish to disrupt the safety of law abiding citizens, shall be subject to immediate justice. We are at the point where the very essence of our civilization is at stake and no one, I repeat no one, has the right to interfere with its resurgence."_

 _"Finally. The executive, the legislature and the Judicial arms of the government have agreed to suspend many of our protective laws, even the writ of Habeas Corpus has been ceased for the immediate future. Believe me, as a former defence attorney, I find that as unpalatable as anyone. However, the future of our society demands strong action. Not for political means, not for publicity means, and not out of fear, but for those of survival."_

 _"It is my firm belief that, when the pandemic has ceased to be a threat. The good people of our country will rise up to rebuild our Constitution, our democracy and, most of all, defend those who need help, support those in a lesser position, and rebuild this country in the spirit of its founders."_

 _"In the constitution, they stated "we the people". Well now we the people need the best of everyone. You, me, our spouses, our children, our families, friends, colleagues and neighbours. We cannot go silently into the night. Fight the plague, fight the tyrants who may rise. Punish those who steal, punish those who target the weak but most of all, punish those who prevent the rebirth of something greater than all of us. Bring our great nation back from the brink!"_

 _"This may very well be the last you hear from your President, or Congressperson, Senator, or even your local Police Officer but remember those words. Those sentiments and most importantly, those aspirations."_

 _"Now, God bless you all, Godspeed and stand tall with your humanity."_

 _"Thank you."_

John watched as the President turned and walked out of the Briefing room with questions hanging in the air behind him.

"Fuck me!' he heard a colleague behind him. "You really think he means what he said?"

John looked at Hassan, Vince and Al, then to the emergency resident that asked the question. "Do you really think he has a choice? Seriously? The world's fucked! Only we just don't know it yet."

"Yeah I agree. But he just gave carte blanche to the military to commence summary executions."

"Well I won't disagree with you there. The situation's pretty grim." John looked around "Are there many patients left?"

The feed on the TV had switched back to the anchor. _"Well folks. The President has made it clear that we face a national security crisis beyond all expectations. While we all consider what has been said. We'll go to this short emergency announcement."_

 _"The Governor and state of Maryland, the CDC and the Baltimore Police would like to remind all citizens that a state of emer..."_ Someone in the group switched off the TV.

The crowd commenced breaking up and the emergency resident walked up to John and his group. John thought she looked far more exhausted than any of his team felt. "We've been receiving less and less patients by the hour since yesterday. And the National Guard asked us to discharge anyone who could possibly go home. So, there's hardly anyone left except real emergency admittances and about thirty non-plague cases that are all nearly ready to be discharged. A lot of the wards and elective stuff has long been shut down."

"Yeah, Neuroscience was shut down a week ago. What does Alex have to say about this?" John was starting to get a shiver up his spine. It was as though they were closing down access to health care as well.

The resident turned to look at the elevator "Honestly, I haven't had a chance to see or speak with Dr Leyland since yesterday morning." She wandered off looking for some fresh coffee.

John was about to turn to his colleagues when the sound of automatic gunfire commenced downstairs. The people around him froze with fearful looks on their faces. He was about to suggest they move back to the Neurology building when the elevator doors opened and out walked Dr Alexandra Leyland, Assistant Director of emergency medicine. She had tears streaming down her face and most of her team came out of the elevator likewise. Alex saw John and ran up to him crying.


	4. Chapter 4 -The Battle of Madison & Wolfe

**Chapter 4 –**

 **The battle of Madison and Wolfe – 25 days previously**

"John, they're shooting everyone downstairs." Alex threw her arms around him and held him tight as she sobbed. "Even Dr Connelly. He tried to prevent one of the soldiers from shooting a patient and they killed him. Point Blank. Not even a word." John held her tight as she started to cry harder.

"They even shot my 6-year-old patient with the fractured tibia. She wasn't going to die John, she wasn't even close to infected. We could have set her leg and she could have gone home with her parents. They tried to intervene, but they gunned them down too. John what sort of monster shoots an innocent 6-year-old?"

John held her tight as she seemed to collapse in his arms. He eased her to the floor and continued to holder while she sobbed. All around them, other staff from the emergency department were in a similar condition. People for whom the Hippocratic oath had been ingrained in their behaviour since med school. All of them were now relating personal accounts of the massacre now going on down stairs. The idea of "First do no harm", now seemed like an empty shell of a promise.

Alex managed to get some measure of her strength back "John, they forced us all into the elevator at gunpoint and told us to head for the top levels of the building. They're herding us. What can we do?"

John helped Alex to her feet "We need to move everyone we can as far away from here as possible, even the patients. Even if it means we bar the fire exits and block the elevator."

John turned to Hassan, Al and Vince. "Get help and start moving people in their beds. Get two people to each patient and move them as fast as possible. We'll get them over to neuroscience. Once there, we'll move them to level four and above and then have everyone block off level three. I don't care if you have to toss filing cabinets to block off the fire stairs. Anything not nailed down that we don't need, prepare to use it as a barrier. Do it!" They started to move "Hassan" He handed over his key-card. " Make sure Vince and Al are with you. Open a set of doors and have one of them keep them open while people pass through, then leapfrog ahead to the next set ok? Also see if you can find one of the Janitors, they'll have a master key for the elevators and shut them down at level four. Ok?"

Hassan smiled "You got it boss" and ran to catch up to Vince and Al.

He looked at the resident and the two others she was helping to comfort. "You guys start grabbing people and get them to help move the patients. We want everyone to cross to Neuroscience on the air-bridge and then lock it off. We should be able to use floors four and up for patients."

He turned to the other staff and without breaking step, started for the first of the patient rooms "Let's move it people." With Alex in tow, the others quickly moved to follow.

What the National Guardsmen down lower didn't realise. While hospitals may be a complex interaction of people, they do practice emergency procedures all the time. In fact, those that work in the emergency department are used to making split second decisions which often affect whether a person lives or dies. Hospitals practice evacuations, they plan ahead, and they practice situations where people in critical care need to be moved.

So, by the time the guardsmen made it to the third floor, all of the patients were already being moved across the complex and the air-bridge to the Neuroscience building. John and Alex made sure that they were the last ones out of the Emergency building but along the way they ran into one of the Janitors and asked if he could assist. He was only too happy to help after hearing the constant gunfire downstairs.

As they were bringing up the rear, with the Janitor locking doors along the way. John looked at him. "What's your name and how long have you worked here?"

The guy looked at John and held out his hand. "Name's Paul Costa, and I've worked here three years." John grabbed it and shook it "I'm John Griffiths and this is Alex Leyland."

"Hi Alex, and I know who you are. You're the AD of emergency, aren't you?" Alex merely nodded. "Sorry John. Don't know you." He looked behind through the glass panel in the doors and made sure the Guardsmen hadn't caught up as yet.

"It's ok Paul, I work in the Neuroscience building. One of the Associate Professors. You married Paul?" They were already crossing through endocrinology where the air-bridge lead to floor three of the neuroscience building. The same air-bridge John and his colleagues had crossed only an hour earlier.

"Was once. She was a bitch. C'mon, we gotta lock these other doors or they'll be able to get around. Glad we didn't have any kids now with all this shit going on. What about you John?" They were now hurrying around past the air-bridge to lock other ways around.

"Nah! Never got around to it. Is there any way we can secure something around the door handles of the air-bridge? I want to try and block it off." John looked at Paul as he locked the last door.

Paul thought for a moment. "Well the air-bridge has an upwards slope to it. There's a soda machine just outside the doors that could wedge under the door handles after we lock it. Shouldn't be too hard to move."

"Anything you guys have which might reinforce the doors? We gotta plan on them getting through." Paul thought again. "Yeah follow me, the custodial closet is just around the corner. There's all kinds of shit in there."

Together with Alex, they continued back towards the air-bridge. They reached the closet within thirty seconds. "Alex, head across the bridge and make sure they're sealing off the levels above the air-bridge." She commenced running immediately for the doors. John saw the big soda machine and knew what Paul meant.

"Ok Paul, does anything in here help us?"

Paul had opened the closet with a master key and was scanning around. "Ok! I've got two padlocks with keys. That's good! Aaand. Great, there's a bike lock cable that someone left tied to a post downstairs. We cut off the lock because someone was going to take this home. Guess they never did."

John looked around. The sound of shooting was getting closer. "They're probably shooting their way through the doors." Said Paul as he continued checking items. "They really start shooting all those people downstairs?" he asked with credulity.

"Yeah, even people who could be saved and sent home." Said John anxiously.

"Fuck me! They're blindly following an order for extrajudicial killing? I didn't think we'd ever fall to that level. Ok! Found it! Sodium Hypochlorite and the other ingredients." Paul started grabbing containers and handing them to John.

"Uh! What?"

Paul smiled. "Would you believe I used to be a LURP. A Ranger"

"Ok fill me in. What the fuck is a LURP?"

"Stands for Long Range Recon Patrol. It's part of the US Army Rangers."

"Really? And what do they do?"

"Like what it says Doc. We used to spend a lot of time in the boonies."

"Uh ok! What's that mean in our current situation?"

"Well. I might be only a janitor, but I do know a thing or two about IED's" Paul looked up at John's expression. "Underestimated me, didn't you?"

"Er. Yeah!" John laughed nervously.

"It's ok John. Everyone does. Here, grab these and place them in the air-bridge. With a bit of luck, we can blow it. Or at least make it unusable."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Doc. It might slow them down enough for common sense to prevail. C'mon."

Together they raced towards the air-bridge. Placed the chemicals down on the walkway and moved back to the Emergency Building. "How are we supposed to move this?" John said to Paul.

"It's actually easier than it looks. We unplug it, tip it on its side and just slide it on the carpet. Don't worry about any crashing noises inside, just help me lower it and then push."

John just chuckled "Paul, you're a constant source of amazement."

John pulled the plug from the socket and helped Paul tip the machine lower. Then, together they pushed and managed to slide the machine on its side past the doors.

"Ok Doc! I need you to grab those three buckets and tip the contents of those drums into them."

John started doing what Paul wanted while he closed and locked the doors to the emergency building. Then he took the bike lock cable and wound them as tight as possible around the handles before padlocking it. Lastly, he pushed down the upper and lower door locks for each door.

"That should hold them a little while at least. Ok Doc, you ready?"

John just looked up at Paul with a smile. "Yeah! These buckets are filled. What now?"

"Help me slide the machine back in front of the doors." Together they slid the machine side down under the doors. One side, because of the slope of the walkway, slid neatly under the twin door handles. "Ok now place the buckets in front of the machine."

"What now?"

"Ok Doc. Grab one of those containers and when I say now, drop them into the bucket. I'll take the other two."

John did what he asked and Paul looked him in the eyes. "Ready?" John just nodded.

"NOW!" they dropped the containers. "And?" asked John. "We run like fuck!" said Paul. As he ran away from the now smoking containers. John followed a pace or two behind Paul as they sprinted across the air-bridge. "Now what?" screamed John as he ran.

Paul shouted back, "Well, you never can tell with chemical bombs, it could go off now or in 5 minutes. Just keep running!"

They made it across and nothing had happened. "What now?" John gasped. He wasn't used to this shit.

"Ok we lock these doors." I'll see if the custodial closet has anything we can use. Paul grabbed his keys and proceeded to lock the door. "You know if there's anything we can use to block this?"

John looked intense for a moment "Oh wait! This way!" he ran around the corner. Against one wall was a corner desk. John slapped the monitor face down on the desk and looked at Paul. "This might fit"

Together they half lifted and dragged the desk from the reception area to the air-bridge. "Ok that's not going to be easy to push through, but let me just check the custodial closet." Said Paul as he once again pulled out his keys. "Got it! Someone's left a small chain. Help me with it.

Together they managed to lock off the doors with the chain and padlock that Paul carried. "Ok what now?" He said as he stood back and admired their handiwork. John just shrugged his shoulders and said "I guess we go up" as he headed for the door to the stairwell.

The got no further than the landing. The stairs were already blocked by the debris from the upper office. Filing cabinets, desks, chairs everything was blocking their progress to level four.

"C'mon let's try the elevators" said john as they shut the fire exit. "Hopefully they haven't locked them off as yet." They both rounded the corner and were surprised to find one of the elevators locked open at their floor.

"Oh, that's smart!" Said Paul as they reached the elevator. Together they jumped in and as the pressed the button for the next floor up, Paul kicked the coffee table that had locked the doors. They closed and with its custom efficiency, the elevator took them up to the next floor.

Alex was waiting for them on level four and immediately threw her arms around John as he emerged from the elevator. Albert Cheng was also there and immediately used the keys to lock off the elevator at that door. "What now?" he said as the doors of the elevator closed and everyone stepped clear.

"We hold them off long enough for reason to prevail." Said John as they all walked over to the windows overlooking the air-bridge. "I notice that you've already blocked the stairwells. Anything else we need to know about?"

Just as they reached the windows, two loud explosions were heard coming from the air-bridge. "They sound like ours. Although, they don't sound like they would've done much as a slowing mechanism." Albert looked concerned "Ours?" Paul merely continued to stare towards the far side of the air-bridge. "Yeah! John and I put together a couple of IED's as a stop gap measure. Doesn't sound like it's done much, and from what I can see, it looks as though it's only taken out a few windows."

Albert looked from John to Paul "I'm sorry! Who are you?"

John interjected "Sorry. Al meet Paul, Paul meet Albert Cheng, one of my graduate students."

Albert shook Paul's hand briefly "And you made a bomb?"

Paul just smiled "Ex Ranger. I'm good at blowing stuff up. At least, I am when I have the right ingredients. I had to improvise"

A burst of gunfire interrupted their chat session and they all ducked down towards the bottom of the windows.

"How'd we go getting everyone set up?" John looked at Alex.

"Everything's ok for the moment. At least until we lose power but none are ICU and they could probably be discharged. If these assholes don't kill them all first."

Another explosion and, after Paul and John cautiously looked over the window ledge, it became clear that the Guardsmen had blown the doors on the air-bridge. About 10 were crossing over the air-bridge, rifles at the ready.

Paul just looked at John and shrugged his shoulders. "Shit! I'd hoped it would last longer than that. "We'd better get ready for a shouting match on the stairs."

John nodded "OK! Paul, you're with me. We'll try and defuse the situation. Alex, Al. Move around and try to keep everyone calm. These levels are contained for the moment."

Just as they crouched to walk away from the window, the high-pitched whine of turbofans and the rapid thump of rotor blades caught their attention. "That's a couple of Blackhawks" said Paul as he moved back to the window sill. John moved to follow and they watched as the two large helicopters took turns landing on the hospital's largest helipad half a block away.

Paul instantly recognised the helicopters by their markings. "Those aren't Guard, they're Nightstalkers." A total of fifteen soldiers exited both aircraft. The first five taking up security positions around the helipad, the other ten headed straight for the doors leading into the building. One of the Black-hawks commenced a slow circle over both the ED and Neurological Department buildings.

"What're Nightstalkers Paul?" John knew he was completely out of his element.

"120th SOAR. They're the flyers who do all the special ops work. They carry SEALS, DELTA any of the special forces."

"Is that who emerged from the choppers?"

Paul just shrugged "I'm not sure who they are, but they're definitely moving like special forces teams."

"And why are they here? It can't be for a bunch of doctors and sick people?"

"No idea! But it does change the dynamic of the situation." At that moment, another explosion rocked the building. This time much closer "I think they've just breached the doors downstairs."

For the next five minutes, in teams of two, the National Guard searched for a way up. None of the elevators would respond, and every stairwell they found was blocked. One by one the teams reported failure back to their Sergeant, then took up security positions while decisions were made on what to do next.

Paul glanced out the window one more time. The Special Forces were crossing the air-bridge in two tactical teams behind two ballistic shields. Both he and John raced for the stairwell.

Todd Ruskin was rated as a Special Warfare Officer 1st class, equivalent to an E-6 or Chief Petty Officer 1st class. He'd been a SEAL for five years and fire team leader for two. His team pressed forward across the air-bridge with him second in line behind his point man who held the ballistic shield. Team three held perfect alignment with them but, because of seniority, Todd was in tactical command. As they crossed the apex of the air-bridge, they came across the National Guard who were just setting up a position of security after blowing the doors at the end.

'National Guard, STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN!" Todd bellowed down the corridor.

The National Guard Sergeant was just working on a plan for getting past the blocked stairwell, when the stand down order came from the air-bridge. He'd heard the Blackhawks and just assumed they were a part of the Guard.  
"Who the hell are you?"

"Seal team four. We have an executive order to remove certain people to safety. So, STAND DOWN! NOW! OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE."

"We have our orders too, and got here first."

"God-dammit this isn't a picnic ground. STAND DOWN! You have five seconds. Are these guy's stupid or what?" The remaining team members all glanced at Todd, game faces on, and slightly shook their heads while keeping their focus on their sights.

As if to reinforce their stupidity, a smoke grenade shot through the doorway and started to fill the air-bridge with smoke. A few seconds later they heard the words "Grenade out" and it was followed by a grenade bouncing along through the smoke.

Todd's point man screamed a warning before both teams braced for the detonation behind the ballistic shields. The explosion of the grenade was a sudden over-pressure and its shrapnel was only really effective on the windows of the air-bridge and the ear drums of the National Guard.

The SEALS, experienced at CQB, all had ear protection with their comms handled through bone conduction speakers. The ballistic shields did the job they were designed for and absorbed the grenade fragments.

Todd just couldn't believe it. "Oh! Fuck this! Knight four-two, put a burst through the doors of the air-bridge in front of us." The aircraft commander simply acknowledged with "Affirmative", side slipped the Black-hawk down over the air-bridge while the crew chief opened up with the mini-gun.

In three seconds, several hundred rounds perforated the windows, walls and doors of the lobby next to the air-bridge. Surprisingly, only three of the National Guard, including their sergeant, were torn to pieces by the rounds. Another five were wounded in one form or another and were on the ground screaming. The remaining two just screamed and curled up into the foetal position, their rifles the last thought on their minds.

"Flash-bangs" Todd ordered and two sailed over the ballistic shields into the lobby. The resulting blasts caused more screaming and blew out even more windows, allowing the smoke to clear. By then, the two teams had moved forward behind the ballistic shields and had taken the lobby.

"Bravo six reporting secure." Todd whispered into his command net. With all the noise of the previous twenty seconds. His quietly spoken words sounded booming in the lobby.

Todd walked over to where the Sergeant, his Corporal, and a private lay. All eviscerated by the mini-gun rounds. Quietly he took out his Glock and shot all three in the head to ensure no re-animation. Two privates were face down on the floor, hands zip-tied behind their backs. The other five were now being treated by his men.

"This one's bleeding out pretty quick Todd. Looks like the Femoral." Todd walked over. The guy was barely conscious and fading quickly. "Sorry" he said before putting a 9mm round in the guy's head. The other four wounded would live and had only superficial wounds.

Todd simply walked away towards the elevator. "Sorry guy's. This needn't have happened if your command element had used its brain." He walked to the elevator and pressed its call button. Nothing.

"Team three. Secure this area. Team two, stack up on me."

Todd's team stacked up either side of the stairwell door. His 2nd in command reached for the door handle. Locked. He whispered "Breacher up". One of the other team members placed a charge designed to blow the lock. Team three immediately began dragging the National Guard away from the blast area.

"Breaching" and all five members of the team flattened themselves against the wall. The charge detonated, blowing the entire lock section out of the door. They all went through covering their respective arcs of responsibility. Nothing but debris blocking the stairwell. "Clear up." "Clear down."

Upstairs, Paul and John were listening to the events unfolding one level below. They hadn't heard what the SEAL leader would later call a cluster-fuck of a situation. But they had heard the grenade followed by the roar of the mini-gun. In fact, Paul had instinctively thrown John painfully down on the stairs. Then they heard the screams from below followed by a couple of, as John thought of it, almighty bangs. Pistol shots rang out then silence for a short time, then another loud bang followed by the door being kicked open.

"Clear up" Then another voice "Clear down" and then a third "Moving. This area's blocked. Back-up, back-up."

Paul stood up "HELLO!" he shouted down the slight gap between the stairwells. He instantly stood back so that no one could target him through the same gap.

Downstairs, Todd walked forward to a point where he could shout up the stairwell without being seen. "Yes hello. We're here to help."

Paul looked at John, caution in his eyes. John merely looked at Paul and uttered "Hey this is your area of expertise, I defer to you."

Paul just looked at the gap "State your name, rank and unit soldier."

Todd just looked at his team, shrugged his shoulders and replied "Not Soldier, Navy. SWO1, Todd Ruskin, SEAL Team four out of Virginia, we have orders to escort some people to safety." Then he looked up at the gap "And you soldier?"

Paul looked slightly relieved "Not anymore, I was an E-4 in Helmand July 2006, if that means anything. Rangers lead the way chief."

"All the way, except when the SEALS are there." Todd and his team started to laugh at the little in joke.

Paul heard the laughter and John saw him physically relax. "What about the Guard? Those assholes were killing everyone."

Todd just shrugged "Well we tried to reason with them. Didn't help. Four KIA, Four WIA and two in restraints. Can you clear the debris so we can come up and get the people we're here for?"

"Ok Todd, my name's Paul, I'm the ex-Ranger. I have Doctor John Griffiths with me. We have the elevator locked off on this level. We'll come down. You have wounded you say?"

Todd immediately pulled out his notepad. "Is that Doctor John E Griffiths, Neuroscientist?"

John just looked at Paul and shouted down the stairwell. "Yep!"

"Well doc. You're one of the people we're here for." Todd turned and keyed his radio "Bravo six, target three located. Commencing extraction."

"Why are you looking for me?"

"Presidential orders. We have teams everywhere looking for people. They're to be taken to secure locations for research purposes." Todd was glad at least one of the targets had made it. Other teams hadn't fared well.

Paul and John walked to the elevator and rode it down to the next level. The doors opened to them looking down the barrels of five SEALS. Paul slowly raised his hands and said "Woah there Chief, none of us are armed."

The SEALS lowered their weapons and Todd stepped forward. "Hi Paul, good to meet you. You too Doc. What the hell happened?"

"There was a Presidential announcement at 7am this morning and suddenly the National Guard started killing all the patients in the emergency department. The Doctors that tried to prevent it were slaughtered as well. Everyone else they herded upstairs. We decided to bug out while we could. Paul helped secure the doors behind us."

Todd looked at Paul, "Good job, wish you were still in?" Paul just laughed "Now more than ever."

"So, Doc. How many people you got stashed away up here?"

John just shrugged "I don't know maybe a hundred or one-fifty. Most are medical personnel. So why are you here again?"

"We have a list of people that the NIH, CDC, Medical Associations and Department of Health all thought would be critical for research. Your name's on it. I have another three from this site."

"Ok! Who?

Todd pulled out his notepad to double check the names he'd memorized. "Ah! Let's see. Ok! I have Doctor Jim Connelly, Director of Emergency Medicine?"

"He's dead! Killed by one of those guy's downstairs."

"Damn. Ok! I have a Doctor Robert Packhard. That' D. Senior Fellow in Endocrinology."

John just shrugged "Yeah! I don't know him but the Endo Building is the one at the other end of the air-bridge. I haven't seen anyone in there for well over a week. It's doubtful, but if he's not there, I can't imagine where he'd be."

"Ok!" Todd just keyed his mike "Team Three, check the building at the other end of the Air-Bridge. That's Endocrinology and target four may be there. If we're lucky."

"Roger. Moving!" came the reply over the radio.

"Ok Doc. The last name I have is Doctor Alex Leyland, Assistant Director of Emergency Medicine. Know where I can find him."

"Yeah. Alex is safe, she's upstairs." He smiled. "Short for Alexandra."

Todd was relieved and keyed his mike once again. "Command net. Confirmed I have target's two and three. Stand by for extraction." Todd looked up at Paul and John "Are there anymore guard roaming around?"

"I've seen a few but I couldn't tell you how many total." John was less concerned about the guard and more about the safety of his colleagues.

"Teams three and four. Watch out for possible threat from further National Guard."

"Roger. Team three reporting negative on target four. Will continue checking."

"Team four has position secured. Negative sighting of Guard, but I do hear sporadic firing on the far side of the complex."

"Roger that. Ok! Doc. We'd better hurry. Do we have anyone who's able to tend these wounded?" Todd was surveying the damage.

"Yeah! Sure. But what about all these people? We just can't leave them here." John was worried that he couldn't live with himself if he abandoned everyone.

Todd sighed, wondering what he was going to do about the situation." Knight four-two, Bravo six. Can you contact Phantom six and get four Chinooks for evac to the nearest center?"

"Roger that, I'll try Bravo Six"

"Ok Paul. See if you can find a weapon in good condition and take all of the ammo you can carry. Doc. You and I need to get upstairs and start organizing things." He turned to his team. "Secure this position."

John and Todd entered the elevator and began riding it up. "Do you have any idea where they want to take us?"

"Nah! Doc. We just go where they want us to go and collect the people on our list. This is our third extraction, but the first to turn into a cluster-fuck."

"Cluster-fuck?"

"Just another name for SNAFU, FUBAR, Chinese Fire Drill, Fuck-up. Basically, it's just another name for a complete fuck up, with a lot of shouting and, for the armed forces, shooting. Got the mental picture."

John laughed "Yeah! Going to have to use that myself one day! Wonderfully understated. So, where do we go from here."

"We have the Winston S. Churchill destroyer out in the Chesapeake. From there you all get gathered up and flown to Patuxent for a flight down south." The elevator bell range and they both walked out of the elevator to face a large number of curious, but frightened faces.

"Down south safer?"

"I heard it is. But they plan to put you up with an army around you for safety."

John called out to Alex, who moved out of the pack with a visibly relieved face. "What's happening John?"

"It's Ok Alex, this is Todd. He's here to escort us to safety. There's four wounded National Guard downstairs that need attention. Todd's trying to get some transport to get everyone else to safety."

At the mention of wounded, despite those same people trying to kill everyone earlier, Alex and some of her team adopted their professional attitude. "Ok! Mike, Sally and Rodrigo, grab some nursing staff and head down." The three attending's immediately started calling over nurses and headed to the elevator.

"Ok where are we going John?"

"Not sure, they want us somewhere to do research with a whole lot of other people. They wanted Jim too. But I let him know about that. Also, some endocrinologist named... Todd? What was the name of the endocrinologist?"

"Uh! Packhard"

Alex just shrugged. "No, I don't know him either, but then, there were, what? Thousands of specialists in this facility alone, not including visiting doctors, med students, graduates..."

John just nodded. Al, Vince and Hassan emerged from the group. "Todd, these are my grad students. Is there room to get them into this research as well?"

Todd shook his head "Sorry Doc. Name's on the list only. We're trying to get support to transport you all to the nearest evac facility."

John turned to Hassan. "How many patients do we have?"

Hassan looked at Todd and then John "Only thirty-two and they're all mobile enough to walk with assistance. The rest are all facility staff. All up one hundred and five."

Todd looked around and then keyed his mike "Night four-two this is Bravo six, over."

"Roger Bravo Six."

"Any luck with those Chinooks?"

"Not as yet Bravo Six, I'll keep trying."

"Knight four-two. Let Phantom six know that we only need three, and that seventy- two pax are specialised and emergency staff. They're needed everywhere at the moment. That might change his mind."

"Roger that Bravo Six."

Todd stepped out into the clear. "Ok, everyone listen up. I'm trying to get some transport for everyone to the nearest evac center. They're hard pressed at the moment but they desperately need people with medical expertise to help, so you're probably all welcome to fly out if you want it. The transport will be enough for the patients too. Just give us a few minutes ok." A few loose cheers where heard from the crowd.

Todd turned to John and Alex. "If you guys need anything personal, you should get it now. Once I sort this out, we'll be moving quick."

Alex just shook her head while John turned to his grad students. "Todd. My office is one floor up. I've just got to get a couple of things. Al, Vince, Hassan, follow me!"

They quickly walked to the elevator and pressed the call button. "I'll be back in about five ok?" Todd just nodded and kept his eyes on every one.

As soon as John and his students disappeared up one level. Alex walked up to Todd.

"The National Guard. What happened to them?"

"They wouldn't see reason, so we had to engage."

Alex's eyes lit up with a fire that surprised Todd. His first impression was that she seemed a bit small and mousy. But looking into her eyes, he suddenly saw a strength that masked her tiny physique and demeanour."

"Well I hope you've got that fucking Sergeant in cuffs and he'll be punished. He shot one of my patients and her parents. A sweet six-year-old girl with a broken Tibia. Part of me wants to grab a scalpel, go downstairs and shove it into his guts."

"Well you don't have to worry about that. The Black-hawk's mini-gun took care of him." Replied Todd. He was starting to like this doc. Lots of fire in her heart. Just then his radio crackled.

"Bravo Six, Knight Four-Two over"

"Bravo Six here, what've you got Knight?"

"Bravo Six. It's a go. The old man heard about the Medical staff and authorized it straight away? None are close, but a group of Chinooks just dropped their load at Patuxent and are refuelling right now. Three'll be tasked with pick up here. ETA one hour."

"Good work Knight"

John, Hassan, Al and Vince all emerged from the elevator and walked towards his office. John started packing items he thought he might need. Laptop, spare glasses. He searched his desk and found a few personal items. His dad's watch, key's. And tablets, he needed his tablets. He normally kept any extra boxes in his lower drawer but that was empty. Damn, why didn't he fill that prescription when he could have. He grabbed the prescription.

"Ok guys listen up! I tried to get you along but no dice. Hopefully Todd's going to arrange transport for you all to the nearest evac center. He thinks he can, apparently medical staff are desperately needed, but that just tells you how bad it is out there and how many first responders have been hit. Keep yourselves safe! At all costs. Try to head south, apparently, everything's not as bad down there. Supposedly, that's were I'm headed. So, make yourselves useful and barter your way down. I'll see if we can team up later 'cause I could use you all."

The others were just nodding and looking around. Then John remembered.

"Oh! And this is for you!" John grabbed his wallet and pulled out three hundred dollars. "I know it's not much, but I won't be needing it and...Ok!" he reached into his laptop case and fished around. "Shit I was going to bank this but never got around to it", he dumped an envelope down on the table with another thousand. "Split it all among yourselves. Take anything in the labs and offices that isn't nailed down and you think might be valuable for trade. Go! And good luck!" They all took turns shaking his hand and together gathered up the money before making for the office door.

Hassan turned around "Good luck to you boss! As-Salaam-Alaikum!"

John just smiled at Hassan. "I thought you lost your faith?" Hassan just shrugged his shoulders "I have, but the sentiment of the statement's the same."

John's face grew serious for a moment "Well in that case, Wa-Alaikum-Salaam!" Hassan smiled and turned to follow the others in their little scavenging mission.

John had everything he needed so he headed for the elevator.

As soon as he reached the level everyone was on, Alex walked up to him smiling "They got transport for everyone including the patients. ETA fifty-five minutes."

John turned to Todd "Thanks Todd. You turned up at just the right moment!"

Todd just smiled "No problem Doc. But we need to get you and Alex moving downstairs. In fact, we should start moving everyone downstairs."

"Ok, I think we..." Just then Hassan, Al and Vince all emerged from the elevator. Hassan was the first to speak. "Not much up there, boss, but we got what we could."

"Ok, we need to start everyone moving downstairs. The elevators will carry twelve at a time so get to work." John smiled one last time before Todd guided both Alex and John to the elevator. They rode down in silence.

They were just getting to the air-bridge when Todd's radio squawked. "Bravo six, this is three, no sign of target four."

"Roger that three. Fall back to the air-bridge so that we can escort these people to the helo's."

"Roger. Moving."

"Bravo six, Knight four-two."

"Go ahead four-two."

"Bravo six, from our position we see approximately four-five guard falling back by fire team towards your position. They're being chased by about a thousand dead. Over."

"Knight four-two, Knight four-one. Give them support if you can, but remember we have a mission."

"Roger that Bravo six. Knight four-one. You airborne?"

"Just starting up now four-two. Where are the targets?"

"They're falling back east along Madison. About two hundred meters from the intersection with Wolfe. Over"

"Roger four-two."

"Ah! Four-two, this is four-one. We're now over the emergency tower and can see another swarm moving north on Wolfe. Roughly several hundred. Over"

"Roger four-one, you start slowing them down. We'll work this end to support the guards. Over."

"Roger four-two. We won't be able to do too much. This area's kinda tight. Four-one out."

"Bravo six. Knight four-two. We'll support the guard but you'd better get moving."

"Roger four-two, starting to move now." Todd looked around at the six remaining Guard. One had a minigun round go through his calf so he wouldn't be walking without assistance. Another was missing a good part of his right hand. The third's left arm was hanging uselessly by his side. The fourth had only cuts and abrasions while two were unharmed and zip-tied.

He could hear Knight four-two a short distance away and the occasional roar from miniguns as well as the sporadic firing of the Guard rifles. He walked up to the group of Guard standing to one side. "You hear that?" They all nodded in unison. "Can I trust you not to follow any more stupid orders?"

One of those cuffed with zip ties started to speak up "Hey, we were only following..."

"Shut-up! I don't want to hear it. Now's the chance to redeem yourselves. That firing? Well there's about forty-five of your guys being chased down by about a thousand corpses. They're approaching that corner up there and we'll need to get them through this building and up to the main helo pad. We've got transport on the way." They all just nodded.

"Paul?" he called out to the air-bridge "Can you work with these guys?" Paul stuck his head around the corner.

"Yeah! No problem! Todd."

"Ok, this is Paul, he's a former Ranger and E-four. You'll take your orders from him." Todd reached into his kit, brought out a multi-tool, and cut the restraints. "You two help him to the helipad. None of you are in any condition to fight. Get your weapons and stand by."

Todd walked over to Paul. "Can you help these guys set up. We need to get the Guard into the building and block off the stars. Then we need to get everyone up to the main helipad. Not the ones on the trauma tower.

"Got it! OK, you three come with me. We're going to need to move quick if we're to save your guys." The quickly went to the first stairwell and down to the next floor, looking for something to block against the ground floor door.

Todd looked at Alex and John, then across the growing crowd of faces from upstairs. He keyed his mike. "Bravo three, Bravo six".

"Bravo three"

"Where are you Ian?"

"We're on the other side of the bridge, we've got this end secure."

"Roger. I'm sending over the HVT's. They'll be followed by the remaining people. Get them all to the helipad and keep 'em safe ok."

"Roger Bravo six"

"Ok Alex, John? Head over the air-bridge. Another team will take you to the main helipad."

They both started walking fast across the bridge. Only 100 meters away, they could see Knight four-two circling slowly and firing down into the street.

Todd started to send the remaining people over the bridge. It would only take a couple of minutes, but by then all hell would be breaking loose on the corner.

Paul and the three National Guard had already sealed off one set of stairs with an overturned drinks machine and they had another ready to slide down and jam the door from the ground floor landing. "Ok. Let's get your buddies in here." They all ran down the stairs, into the lobby and were ready at the front doors.

Lieutenant Sadler and the forty troops under his command were just short of panic when the Blackhawk turned up with its miniguns. They had encountered the swarm while patrolling the perimeter of the hospital and were now in a desperate fight for their lives. Falling back by fire teams along Madison they were now very close to the corner with Wolfe.

There were a few stray dead here and there on the side roads, but these were quickly dispatched, it was the swarm that was the main worry. Despite the miniguns, and the rifles of his own men chopping them to pieces, the swarm just kept coming.

He rounded the corner with his sergeant and radioman and his heart sank. Only two hundred feet down the road was another helicopter and another swarm.

His first fire team made it to the corner and turned to suppress the swarm. His second fire team made the corner. Turned it and started to suppress the new swarm appearing in Wolfe street.

Finally, the third team made it and started firing down Madison to keep the biggest swarm at bay. It was working, sort of. Still they just kept coming, oblivious to the carnage around them.

Sadler grabbed his handset from the radioman, as the latter kept firing single shots at the hoard. The radioman was already down to his last magazine, as were many of his men.

"Tango six, this is Tango two. Over."

"Tango two, go ahead."

"Tango six, we're pinned down on the corner of Madison and Wolfe. Running low on ordinance. Thanks for the Blackhawks but I think we're out of time. Over"

"Tango two, what Blackhawks? We haven't been able to get support for three hours?"

"Tango six, say again? Whose, were they?"

Just then Paul and the other National Guard smashed the glass doorways onto the street. They started waving them in towards the building.

"Tango two, we have some assistance. Out."

Sadler started to call his fire teams together and point them to the smashed glass doors.

By team, the all ran for the building. As each team reached Paul and the other National Guard, they all stopped to thank them, but they were just waved on and pointed to the stairwell. "level three" was all Paul and the other guards had time to say, before the next team was close.

All the fire teams had reached the safety of the building before Sadler, his sergeant and his radioman reached the doors. Paul and the others merely waved them to the stairwell before the first, then second swarm made it to the front doors.

They entered the bottom of the stairwell. Paul grabbed Lieutenant Sadler and told him about shifting the drink's machine, now mostly damaged and bent out of shape. "We need to get this across the doorway to prevent them coming in."

They began shifting the machine over the concrete and when they nearly made it, the door was pushed slightly open. Both Paul and Sadler were nearly clear when hands grasped into the gap in the door. Sadler had actually started to believe that he might make it away from the hell hole of Johns Hopkins. Unfortunately, he was dragged screaming across the gap and hands commenced tearing him apart. Somehow, despite Paul's frantic efforts to prevent it, Sadler was dragged through the door frame, leaving a bloody testimony to his bravery.

The last thing Paul did, before commencing the climb up the stairwell, was to pull the pin on a grenade and toss it into the gap. The detonation had the desired effect but it also served to weaken the door and, as he made the third floor, he heard the door give away downstairs.

He shut the fire door behind him and turned to face the Sergeant, radioman and three Guard in his team. "Where's Lieutenant Sadler?" asked the Sergeant.

"Sorry Sergeant, he was grabbed by the swarm. I couldn't save him. C'mon, this way!"

Paul started running down the corridor to the air-bridge where they encountered Todd and his team standing on the bridge and looking on the massing crowd below. "We're it Todd."

"Ok let's move." Todd's team headed off first followed by Paul and the last of the National Guard. They had just reached the endocrinology building when the first of the dead started crossing the air-bridge.

As they ran through the endocrinology building they started catching up to Sadler's dispersed platoon. The Sergeant screamed for them to move it or get left behind. Behind them Knight four-one expended the last of its ammunition in a five second burst that cut the dead crossing the air-bridge to pieces. Still more of them were coming and they could do no more. They pulled up and flew back towards the main helipad.

Back down in the corridors, Todd was once again grateful to have had Paul with them. Johns Hopkins was a labyrinthine collection of buildings interconnected by air-bridges and corridors, and Paul knew his way around like the back of his hand.

They finally reached the building containing with the main helipad on its roof and found the medical staff and National Guard milling around waiting for the transport. "Knight four-two. What's the ETA on those Chinook's? Over"

"Roger Bravo six. Two are in the pattern and one's just flaring now. I have Bravo four and the HVT's on board now six."

"Good work four-two, what's the load cap on the chinooks? Over."

"Roger Bravo six, the pilot of Prospector four-eight thinks because most don't have kit, cap is about five-five pax. The first load is almost complete."

From where Knight four-two was circling he could see the loadmaster gesturing to the medical staff hurrying them up. The first chinook, Prospector four-eight, commenced a slow, lumbering lift-off. All together they had the thirty-two patients and Twenty-five medical staff. It was slow climbing until it reached translational lift and began a steady, sure climb out of the area.

Prospector four-six was next and ended up taking off with 25 medical staff and 25 of Sadler's National Guard. Few of the soldiers had any ordinance left after the battle of Madison and Wolfe, as they'd already started to call it. Despite it all, they were in reasonably high spirits. Post combat elation is what Todd put it down to, their crash would come later once the adrenaline wore off.

Prospector four-seven was the last to load and by this time, a few of the dead had started to make their way to the rooftop. Todd ordered the National Guard not to fire and to get aboard quickly. They took with them the last of the medical staff, the wounded Guards and Paul's team. Paul was the last on and gave Todd the thumbs up from the top of the loading ramp as the Chinook rose into the sky.

Todd's two fire teams were steadily firing at the dead emerging onto the roof, grateful that they all carried supressed weapons while Knight four-one landed on the pad behind them. Todd and Ian each threw a flash-bang. They'd figured that if the dead could see and hear, they could be disoriented by them just as much as the living. Todd and the remaining nine SEALS climbed aboard Knight four-one and continued to fire as the pilot pulled on the collective, lowered the nose and climbed away from the now overrun Johns Hopkins.

Above them in Knight four-two Alex and John were strapped in while Bravo four sat stone faced around them. It was no use talking, neither Alex or John had a headset and the noise of the Blackhawk was too great. Bravo four's team leader, someone who John hadn't even found out his name, watched the evac and then smiled at John and gave the thumbs up. John could just make him mouthing "All Clear" but didn't hear the words.

The three Chinooks and two Blackhawks formed up and started to head southeast over the Chesapeake. Below them, and all around Johns Hopkins thousands of the dead had gathered. Across Baltimore, and to the southwest, over Washington DC, hundreds of smoke plumes were rising and fires were beginning to spread. Washington, once the capital for the strongest nation and economy in the world, was a city in its death-throes. All around them, bound for all sorts of desperate havens for the living, Choppers rose into the daytime sky. The worst was just beginning and everyone just watched on silent in their own thoughts.


End file.
